Posted in: Netflix, streaming, TV | Tagged: bctv daily dispatch, Kim's Convenience, netflix, season 5, Simu Liu

Kim's Convenience: Simu Liu Considers Show's Cancellation "A Betrayal"

The 5^th and unexpectedly final season of hit Canadian sitcom Kim's Convenience ended its run on Canadian television last month and will be premiering worldwide on Netflix in June. Fans have been wondering why the show's creators and showrunners Ins Choi and Kevin White decided to walk away from the show when a 6^th and final season had been greenlit by the CBC. It was the producers' decision to end the show rather than find replacement writers and showrunners for the new season. The cast and crew were surprised and hurt by the abrupt decision and are still in the dark over why the creators bailed.

No one has been more vocal about the cancellation of Kim's Convenience than Simu Liu, who plays Jung, the prodigal eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Kim on the show. Liu is about to become even more famous when Marvel's Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings opens in movie theatres worldwide later this year. He has been vocal on social media about his anger and sense of betrayal over the show's abrupt cancellation.

The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Liu about his career, his views about Asian representation, racism — and his feelings about Kim's Convenience when he was promoting his partnership with the California Milk Processor Board on an initiative with No Kid Hungry to help provide up to 1 million meals to children in need in California. His remarks are worth reading, and his answer about the cancellation was as concise as he always was:

"Without airing too much dirty laundry, I do want to say that as far as I can recall in this industry, it is virtually unheard of for a show to be canceled that is doing this well, has been greenlit for a new season, and has a network willing to pay for it. To have the producers say, "No, we're done," feels like a betrayal in a lot of ways. It feels like the rug was just swept from under us. In the case of a show where maybe the ratings aren't doing as well, a lot of the people on the crew and the actors would have seen the writing on the wall. But for us, it really came out of left field.

"For the showrunners to say that they were moving on, it was always our belief that there were other voices of color that could fill that void and continue to create authentic stories for these characters. Over 65 episodes, the characters of Appa, Umma, Janet, and Jung deserved an ending and a reconciliation for that family. What pains me more than anything is that we built a wonderful audience that has been so supportive and so excursive in their praise of the show, and we aren't able to give them the ending they deserve. It really does suck. That being said, I can still, at the end of the day, feel proud of our accomplishments and our achievement."

The cancellation of Kim's Convenience is still shrouded in mystery. Why didn't the producers find other writers of colour to take over the proposed final season of the show? Did the creators have enough ownership of the property to vet or prohibit their possible replacements? Did the producers really think there were no other writers of colour in the Canadian TV industry who were good enough to take over the show? Perhaps one day those questions will be answered. Till then, we have 5 seasons of a beloved show on Netflix.

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